There's another new candidate for those looking for the look of traditional silver air-dried, glossy, fibre prints. It's DaVinci Fibre Gloss from ChauDigital. They're the London pro print firm that printed for Bob Carlos Clarke before his recent sad death, and they were aiming for a K3 inkjet paper that was suitable for their famous B&W look, and if you've seen the work of Bob Carlos Clarke you'll know instantly what that is. You can get the paper from www.paperandinks.com and there's an introductory profiling offer, I believe there's also a US distributor.

The special claim is triple coating (it certainly dries quickly) and a look targetted to resemble traditional darkroom papers in both texture and image quality. IMO they've got the texture absolutely right, with that sumptuous sheen and nuanced rippling that's the signature of air dried glossy paper. But the image quality is just something else. Dark, dark blacks with echoes of tonal transitions welling up from even the deepest shadows, and gossamer highlights that again hold the brightest, cleanest details I've ever seen.

I tested the paper with some B&W shots of a car headlight set against black body work. The results are mesmerising.

I've been transitioning from film to digital since the Nikon D1x, but now with a P25, an Epson R2400, and these latest papers, it really is time to move on exclusively to digital.

Gary i have just been printing on this paper this afternoon---actually Innova FibaPrint gloss, which i hear is the same paper. It is absolutely wonderful. I agree with everything you have said. I just ordered some more paper. I'm a long time darkroom printer and this paper is a winner for sure. Wonderful with K3 inks on my 7800. I'm printing from P25 files also and the prints really sing on this paper. eleanor

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There's another new candidate for those looking for the look of traditional silver air-dried, glossy, fibre prints. It's DaVinci Fibre Gloss from ChauDigital. They're the London pro print firm that printed for Bob Carlos Clarke before his recent sad death, and they were aiming for a K3 inkjet paper that was suitable for their famous B&W look, and if you've seen the work of Bob Carlos Clarke you'll know instantly what that is. You can get the paper from www.paperandinks.com and there's an introductory profiling offer, I believe there's also a US distributor.

The special claim is triple coating (it certainly dries quickly) and a look targetted to resemble traditional darkroom papers in both texture and image quality. IMO they've got the texture absolutely right, with that sumptuous sheen and nuanced rippling that's the signature of air dried glossy paper. But the image quality is just something else. Dark, dark blacks with echoes of tonal transitions welling up from even the deepest shadows, and gossamer highlights that again hold the brightest, cleanest details I've ever seen.

I tested the paper with some B&W shots of a car headlight set against black body work. The results are mesmerising.

I've been transitioning from film to digital since the Nikon D1x, but now with a P25, an Epson R2400, and these latest papers, it really is time to move on exclusively to digital.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=61952\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Gary i have just been printing on this paper this afternoon---actually Innova FibaPrint gloss, which i hear is the same paper. It is absolutely wonderful. I agree with everything you have said. I just ordered some more paper. I'm a long time darkroom printer and this paper is a winner for sure. Wonderful with K3 inks on my 7800. I'm printing from P25 files also and the prints really sing on this paper. eleanor[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=61973\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I have been trying a sample of the daVinci Fibre Gloss myself. It is an interesting paper, although I find this striving after 'traditional air-dried, glossy fibre prints' a bit strange. I used to print on Ilford Galerie (a favourite of Ansel Adams') and my recollection is that as soon as you dried it, it curled like a mad banana. The only way to get it flat was to press it for months on end or dry mount it onto board. The daVinci paper comes out nice and flat and there is no denying the quality feel of it. Howvever, my main reservations are over QC. A number of my sample sheets were roughly cut along one edge and the finish on a number (but not all) is scratched longitudinally, causing a visible defect in the printout. For a paper this expensive, this simply should not be the case.

Eleanor,May I ask where you get this paper. Is it within the US?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=61988\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I get the paper at shadesofcolor.comalso, the some of the letter sized sheets in my box were a bit rough along one of the cut edges but actually that didn't bother me...i just ran my finger down the edge and that pretty well smoothed it out. I do think this paper does scratch more easily after printing. the surface is not as tough as the museo silver rag. but then I was testing the paper just after printing. possibly after 24 hours, when the ink has had a chance to settle and completely dry, it won't scratch so easily. It is still an incredibly beautiful paper. eleanor

I get the paper at shadesofcolor.comalso, the some of the letter sized sheets in my box were a bit rough along one of the cut edges but actually that didn't bother me...i just ran my finger down the edge and that pretty well smoothed it out. I do think this paper does scratch more easily after printing. the surface is not as tough as the museo silver rag. but then I was testing the paper just after printing. possibly after 24 hours, when the ink has had a chance to settle and completely dry, it won't scratch so easily. It is still an incredibly beautiful paper. eleanor[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=62009\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Eleanor (or anybody else who's used both) I'm curious how you feel about this paper compared to Museo Silver Rag?

I've only had a few sheets of Museo Silver Rag, UK deliveries are only now trickling through, but from what I've seen I prefer DaVinci.

Maybe I'm suffering from "darkroom remorse", DaVinci is much closer to the silver papers that IMO are the quality benchmark. I recognise this doesn't make much logical sense, if you're embracing a new medium like digital then approach it on its own terms, but who said photography was supposed to be logical?

These papers are actually qute different, tho still in the same class of papers. Silver Rag is a good bit warmer, innova, whiter without being glaringly white. The papers are the same weight, but silver rag is stiffer.Texture is quite different also, as is the reflectance. Innova has more gloss, silver rag is a bit flatter. Silver Rag kind of "sparkles" when held obliquely to a light source, the Innova shines mroe like a silver gelatin paper..... silver rag is slightly more translucent than the innova. You should really try out both. Oh, the surface on the silver rag is tougher and more difficult to scratch. the Innova coating seems "softer" and is easier to dent, say with a fingernail. that's about it. eleanor

According to Adorama's web site, there are two: the F-type Brilliant White Gloss (300g) and Brilliant White Matte (280g) . Their description of the F-type paper specifically mentiones Danny Chau and his work.

shadesofpaper.com's web site only lists FibaPrint Ultra Smooth (280g) under the Fibaprint label.

According to Adorama's web site, there are two: the F-type Brilliant White Gloss (300g) and Brilliant White Matte (280g) . Their description of the F-type paper specifically mentiones Danny Chau and his work.

shadesofpaper.com's web site only lists FibaPrint Ultra Smooth (280g) under the Fibaprint label.

Innova fibaprint f-gloss (300 grams). you have to either email or call Jim at shadesofpaper.com. It isn't on the web site yet. He just got it in stock last monday. eleanor[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=62117\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks! I guess this is then one more useful data point: Adorama has the F-type paper in stock (at least, according to their web site).

Thanks! I guess this is then one more useful data point: Adorama has the F-type paper in stock (at least, according to their web site). --Daniel Bell[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=62226\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I wouldn't put too much faith in their website, though, as I've found that it's not necessarily an accurate indicator of what they actually have in stock.